Capital Eye Opener: Monday, August 31

Your daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics:

THE (UN)CONSTITUTION STATE: As much of the country patiently awaits next week’s Supreme Court case that could re-shape campaign finance rules, a judge in Connecticut is making waves at the state level. Judge Stefan Underhill ruled last week that the state’s public financing system for state lawmakers and candidates “puts an unconstitutional burden on minor party candidates’ First Amendment right to political opportunity,” according to the Associated Press. The AP says that Underhill wrote that the measure “essentially set the threshold criteria at the level guaranteed to ensure extremely minimal minor party participation” and said the decision “raises the specter of major party entrenchment.”

GOING GREEN WITHOUT THE GREENBACKS: Environmentalists took a hit today in the Washington Post, which reported that they’re not doing much in these crucial days to rally support from the public for the climate-change bill. “It seems that environmentalists are struggling in a fight they have spent years setting up,” the Post said. “They are making slow progress adapting a movement built for other goals — building alarm over climate change, encouraging people to “green” their lives — into a political hammer, pushing a complex proposal the last mile through a skeptical Senate.” Of course, these environmental groups aren’t as well-heeled as their opposition (and never have been). Environmentalists have spent a mere $9.8 million on lobbying so far this year, while oil and gas companies have spent more than eight times that. Yet the Post also reported last week that 55 percent of the Americans interviewed for a Washington Post-ABC News poll support the changes to energy policy.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF MORE: Some of the largest telecom companies can now get larger, thanks to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which has overturned a 16-year Federal Communications Commission rule. Since 1993, the FCC has prohibited cable companies from controlling more than 30 percent of the U.S. market and since then the rule has been in legal challenge, according to the Washington Post.Comcast came out victorious on this appeal, though the company says it doesn’t necessarily want to acquire other companies. In addition to already having about 25 percent of the cable market, Comcast has spent more on lobbying so far this year than all other TV, movies and music organizations except the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. According to our Revolving Door database, at least three former FCC staffers now work at Comcast, including James Coltharp, the senior director of public policy for the telecom.

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